Page 30 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives

An enormous field of grass, maybe more than a hundred yards in circumference, aged and worn with dirt patches everywhere. Tall, partial, and broken stone walls and their debris litter the ground. We maneuver around a few of them to reach the furthest part of the interior, which is where we stop.

“Thank you,” Rai says as he turns to me. “May I...put my hand on your arm?”

His request is pretty small for such a long hike, but it isn’t like I’d say no. “Of course.”

As Rai approaches, Aubrey removes a school tablet from the back of his pants and holds it in his clasped hands, rested in front of him.

Rai’s hand grips my forearm lightly, his hand warm through my sleeve.

Colt releases my other arm, walks to where Aubrey is standing, and a second later, Rai’s blindfold is in his free hand. I look at his face, and beyond being struck by how he could possibly be any more beautiful than I imagined, I am very confused.

Rai told me what happens when he opens his eyes. Is he trying to show me his curse? But why would he need to hold my arm?

It’s no sooner the thought crosses my mind that his eyes fly open, and so many of my questions are answered.

First, his eyes. They’re the color of tumbled coal, shining pools of onyx. I can barely decipher where his irises end and his pupils begin. And they are radiant.

Second, he isn’t trying to show me what his powers can do because one glance at the bright, glowing tablet in Aubrey’s hands tells me they’ve done nothing.

And I realize that’s the reason he’s touching me.

Why Colt is always touching me

Why I feel like I’ve known these Alphas all my life and that we belong together.

Because we do.

Raito

Even as I see it, I do not dare believe it’s true.

I...am looking at technology.

Workingtechnology.

Thanks toher.

I pivot in Mira’s direction to catch a glimpse of this beautiful specimen.

I always knew she would be gorgeous. No matter what, she would be beautiful in my eyes. There was no other way for her to be in my heart. The draw to her, our connection, dictated how I’d perceive her.

Her silvery eyes glimmer in the light as her face fills with awe as she looks at me. Or that could be my hubris.

But I want it to be true. I want Mira to look at me the way I’m looking at her now.

That beautiful, pale skin, her cheeks and the tip of her nose rosy from the cold air. She uses makeup on her eyes, but nowhere else: a simple liner that flares upward at the outer corners. I wonder if she wears it every day or only on Saturdays?

“What is this?” she whispers.

The truth is that I don’t know.

Colton had told Aubrey and me about his curse’s reaction to being near Mira, but he’d made another discovery:

When he touches Mira, his curse is completely negated.

He’d been testing it for weeks to ensure it wasn’t a fluke, and every time he touched her, all the thoughts invading his mind would vanish.

“I know you guys feel the same connection to her that I do,” he had told us in the library. “So I thought maybe we should see if it works for you two, too.”